Method and system to enable a fixed price purchase within a multi-unit online auction environment

ABSTRACT

A method includes presenting to a buyer a multi-unit auction, permitting the buyer to bid one or more of a price and a number of units in the auction, and permitting the buyer to re-bid in the auction. The auction includes a rule that prevents the buyer from reducing the price in the re-bid, and the auction further includes a rule that prevents the buyer from reducing the number of units in the re-bid.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/689,153, filed Jan. 18, 2010 which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/167,999, filed Jun. 28, 2005, which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of e-commerce and,more specifically, to a pre-auction seller determined price for anInternet-based multi-unit auction facility.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many Internet-based auction facilities have developed in the pastseveral years. Through Internet-based auction facilities, potentialsellers can enter information about their product or service forpotential buyers to bid on. The information submitted by potentialsellers is then organized and stored by the Internet-based auctionfacility. Potential buyers can search through the organized sellerinformation to find products or services they wish to bid on.

Once a buyer locates an item to bid on, the buyer can compete with otherbuyers for the item by submitting bids during a specified auction timeperiod. At the end of the specified auction time period, the highest bidbuyer is notified and the transaction between the seller and the highestbid buyer is facilitated.

While the current Internet-based auction facility works well for someitems, there are several disadvantages. For example, many items in anInternet-based auction facility have at most one bid during thespecified auction time. An interested buyer must sometimes wait days foran auction to end even though his bid is the only bid received. Also,there are many potential buyers who don't like auction formats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network-basedtransaction facility in the form of an Internet-based auction facility.

FIG. 2 is a database diagram illustrating an exemplary database for thetransaction facility.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of receivingoffering information from a seller including whether to offer the itemat a pre-auction seller determined price.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of generating abuyer preferred index page using category preferences or searchcriteria.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are flow charts illustrating an exemplary method ofdisplaying user interfaces for and conducting an auction facility withan auction purchase process and optionally a fixed-price purchaseprocess.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary seller interface to receive informationon seller's offerings.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary buyer interface to facilitate a buyer inlocating items to purchase or bid on.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary item list generated in response tobuyer's category selection or search criteria provided in the userinterface of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary buyer interface used to receive buyerinformation including an indication to use the fixed-price purchaseprocess or the auction purchase process.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method in which a fixed-price option isavailable in a multi-unit auction as long as items have not been bid on.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method maintaining an item availablefor fixed-price purchase in a multi-unit auction based on the currentprice, a threshold, and the number of bids on the item.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method of permitting re-bids in amulti-unit auction.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary method of permitting a user to purchasean item at a fixed-price during a multi-unit auction when that user hasan outstanding bid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and system for providing an option to sell and buy at apre-auction seller determined price in an Internet-based auctionfacility are described. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident,however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details.

Terminology

For the purposes of the present specification, the term “transaction”shall be taken to include any communications between two or moreentities and shall be construed to include, but not be limited to,commercial transactions including sale and purchase transactions,auctions and the like.

Transaction Facility

To better understand the invention, an embodiment of an electronictransaction facility is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network-basedtransaction facility in the form of an Internet-based auction facility10. While an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is describedwithin the context of an auction facility, it will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that the invention will find application inmany different types of computer-based, and network-based, commercefacilities. It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatthe invention may be used in auction facilities of other architectures.The instructions stored in the auction facility (which can be executedby a processor) can be stored on a machine-readable medium including,but not limited to read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memorydevices, or electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagatedsignals.

The auction facility 10 includes one or more of a number of types offront-end servers, namely page servers 12 that deliver web pages (e.g.,markup language documents), picture servers 14 that dynamically deliverimages to be displayed within Web pages, listing servers 16, CGI servers18 that provide an intelligent interface to the back-end of auctionfacility 10, and search servers 20 that handle search requests to theauction facility 10. E-mail servers 21 provide, inter alia, automatede-mail communications to users of the auction facility 10.

The back-end servers include a database engine server 22, a search indexserver 24 and a credit card database server 26, each of which maintainsand facilitates access to a respective database.

The Internet-based auction facility 10 may be accessed by a clientprogram 30, such as a browser (e.g., the Internet Explorer distributedby Microsoft Corp. of Redmond Wash.) that executes on a client machine32 and accesses the auction facility 10 via a network such as, forexample, the Internet 34. Other examples of networks that a client mayutilize to access the auction facility 10 include a wide area network(WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless network (e.g. a cellularnetwork), or the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) (or PSTN) network.

Database Structure

FIG. 2 is a database diagram illustrating an exemplary database 23,maintained by and accessed via the database engine server 22, which atleast partially implements and supports the auction facility 10. Thedatabase 23 may, in one embodiment, be implemented as a relationaldatabase, and includes a number of tables having entries, or records,that are linked by indices and keys. In an alternative embodiment, thedatabase 23 may be implemented as a collection of blocks in ablock-oriented database. While FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of adatabase, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theinvention can be used with other database structures.

Central to the database 23 is a user table 40, which contains a recordfor each user of the auction facility 10. A user may operate as aseller, buyer, or both, within auction facility 10. The database 23 alsoincludes item tables 42 that may be linked to the user table 40.Specifically, the item tables 42 include a seller items table 44 and abuyer items table 46. A user record in the user table 40 may be linkedto multiple items that are being, or have been auctioned via the auctionfacility 10. A link indicates whether the user is a seller or a buyerwith respect to items for which records exist within the items tables42. While offerings by the seller are referred to as “items” in thespecification, “items” includes any product or service offered by theseller. The database 23 also includes a note table 48 populated withnote records that may be linked to one or more item records within theitem tables 42 and/or to one or more user records within the user table40. Each note record within the note table 48 may include, inter alia, acomment, description, history or other information pertaining to an itembeing auctioned via the auction facility 10 or to a user of the auctionfacility 10.

A number of other tables are also shown to be linked to the user table40, namely a user past aliases table 50, a feedback table 52, a bidstable 54, an accounts table 56, and an account balances table 58.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for an exemplary embodiment of a method toacquire offering information from a seller. The seller issues a listingrequest (block 100) to the auction facility 10, and the auction facilitygenerates instructions (block 110) offering the seller the option tosell his item using an auction purchase process option and/or afixed-price purchase process option. After the instructions have beentransmitted (block 120), and a page server 12 (see FIG. 1) displays theinstructions, the seller decides whether to offer a buyer the chance tobuy the offering at a pre-auction seller determined price in afixed-price purchase process. The seller transmits a purchase processindicator by either an affirmative (block 140) or a negative (block150). The server can receive and store in note table 48 of database 23(FIG. 2) this information for later use (block 160). The seller alsotransmits other offering information, such as a description, picture,reserve price, and contact information to be collected and stored innote table 48 of database 23 (see FIG. 2) (block 160). Optionally, ifthe seller sends a pre-auction seller determined price that is less thanthe reserve price he or she sends, the seller can be notified of anerror.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart showing one embodiment of a buyer'sinteraction with the Internet-based auction facility. The buyer locatesthe site by inputting the auction facility identifier (block 600) intothe client program 30 running on client machine 32 (see FIG. 2) whichtransmits the auction facility identifier (block 610) through theInternet 34 (See FIG. 1). The Internet-based auction facility receivesthe transmission and (block 620) a listing server 16 (see FIG. 1)generates a broad list of available categories of items stored in itemstable 42 (see FIG. 2) for the buyer to select from. The auction facility10 (block 630) transmits the category list and transmits an interface,which can be presented by a page server 12 (see FIG. 1), to allow thebuyer to enter search criteria which may be independent of the categorylist. The buyer selects a category preference from the category list orgenerates a search criteria (block 640). The buyer then transmits (block650) the category preference or search criteria, again, through theInternet 34 (see FIG. 1). Upon receipt of the category preference orsearch criteria, the auction facility uses a search server 20 (seeFIG. 1) to generate an item index page of relevant offerings includingvisual indicators displayed in respect to items in which the seller isallowing a buyer to buy the item at a pre-auction seller determinedprice (block 660). The item index page is transmitted to the buyer(block 680). After receiving the item index page (block 670), the buyergenerates a request for an item to purchase or bid on. Picture servers14 (see FIG. 1) can also be used to show the buyer pictures (ifavailable) of the item. The buyer's request is then transmitted (block20).

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart illustrating how the client interfaces withthe auction facility, located on a first computer system, when apre-auction seller determined price is an alternative option to bidding.After the facility receives the buyer's request (block 200), decisionblock 210 decides if there is still time remaining in the item's auction(item requested by the buyer). If a predetermine period of time haspassed, the buyer will not be allowed to place a bid or buy at thepre-auction seller determined price. Instead the auction will end andthe highest bidder (if there is one) will be determined (block 380). Ifthere is time remaining, then the determination is made in decisionblock 220 whether a prior bid has been received. If a prior bid has beenreceived, then the pre-auction seller determined price is no longeravailable to the buyer and the buyer's only option is to bid. If noprior bid has been received, and the item has a pre-auction sellerdetermined price available, a first user interface will be created(block 230). The auction facility 10 will make the typical auctionpurchase process available through the user interface (block 240) andwill make the fixed price purchase process available to the client(block 250). The pre-auction seller determined price is retrieved forthe user interface (block 260). The first user interface is convertedinto a markup language document suitable for viewing by the buyer (block270). The generated markup language document is then transmitted forviewing by the buyer on a second computer system using page servers 12on the first computer system (block 280) (see FIG. 1).

If, at decision block 220, it is determined that an initial bid valuehas been received, a second user interface will be generated (block390). The typical auction purchase process is then made availablethrough the user interface (block 400). The second user interface isconverted into a markup language document suitable for viewing by thebuyer (block 270). The generated markup language document is thentransmitted to the buyer (block 280).

After the markup language document has been transmitted to the buyer, adetermination is made at decision block 420, based on the transmittedmarkup language document whether the fixed price purchase process isavailable to the buyer. If the fixed price purchase process is availableto the buyer, the buyer then makes a determination at decision block 290whether to buy the item at the pre-auction seller determined price orwhether to bid on the item. If the buyer chooses to purchase the itemusing the fixed price purchase process, his indication to buy at thepre-auction seller determined price is transmitted to the auctionfacility.

If the fixed price purchase process is not available to the buyer (asdetermined in decision block 420) or fixed price purchase process isavailable, but the buyer chooses not to use the fixed price purchaseprocess, the buyer generates a bid (block 310). The bid is thentransmitted to the auction facility (block 320).

Upon receiving a transmission from the buyer, a determination is made atdecision block 330 whether the buyer has chosen the fixed price purchaseprocess. If the buyer has chosen the fixed price purchase process, theauction is stopped (if the quantity in the auction is fully sold) (block340) and a transaction is initiated between the buyer and the seller(block 410). Optionally, the auction facility can check the buyer'scredit before stopping the auction.

If the buyer has not opted to use the fixed price purchase process, asdetermined by the auction facility at decision block 330 (either becauseit wasn't available or he or she preferred to place a bid instead), thebid is received (block 350). Optionally, if the bid is greater than thepre-auction seller determined price (and the fixed price purchaseprocess is still available), the auction facility may invite the buyerto use the fixed price purchase process. Upon receipt of the bid, thefixed price purchase process option is removed (block 360) and adetermination is made at decision block 370 to see if there is any timeremaining in the auction. If there is time remaining in the auction,bids can be received and processed in the above manner until there is nomore time remaining in the auction. However, if there is no more timeremaining in the auction, the highest valid bid is determined from thereceived bids (block 380), and a transaction is initiated between thehighest bidder and the seller (block 410).

FIG. 6 provides an exemplary embodiment of the user interface 500created at block 110 in FIG. 3 to relay offering options to the sellerand collect information on the seller's item. The user interface 500gives the seller the option to allow a buyer to buy the item at apre-auction seller determined price 514.

FIG. 7 provides an exemplary embodiment of the category list 517 andsearch criteria request generated by object 620 in FIG. 4. A buyer cangenerate search criteria (block 640) by typing the search criteria(block 516).

FIG. 8 provides an exemplary embodiment of the item index page generatedat block 660 in FIG. 4. A possible placement of the fixed-price purchaseprocess availability icon 518 is shown next to the item. Also displayedin the embodiment of the item index page is a list of prices 514 whichcould either be the current bid or the pre-auction seller determinedprice if available.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of the markup language documentgenerated at block 270 in FIG. 5. Regular auction panel 503 is generated(blocks 240 and 400). Fixed price purchase process panel 504 isgenerated (block 250) in FIG. 5. The buyer can submit a bid 520 or,depending on the availability of the fixed price purchase process, canstart the fixed price purchase process in panel 504.

In an embodiment, the option of purchasing an auction item at a fixedprice in a single-item auction is extended to purchasing one or moreunits of an item at a fixed price in a multi-unit auction (also known asa Dutch auction). In either the single item or multi-unit auction, thisoption to purchase an item at a fixed price may be referred to as aBuy-It-Now (BIN) feature. In different embodiments, the availability ofthe BIN feature over the course of the auction may change. In oneembodiment of the BIN feature, the BIN feature is persistent, or inother words, available throughout the entirety of the auction. In otherembodiments of this BIN feature, the BIN feature disappears aftercertain conditions are met.

An embodiment of a process 1000 in which the BIN features disappearsduring the course of an auction is referred to as a temporary BIN and isillustrated in FIG. 10. In the temporary BIN embodiment, a fixed-pricepurchase option is made available in a multi-unit auction at 1010, andthe BIN feature remains available throughout the auction for any unitsthat have not yet been bid on (1020). For example, if 10 units of anitem are available in an auction, and Bidder A bids on three units, andBidder B bids on two units, then five units remain available for BINpurchase. When all the units have been bid on, the fixed-price purchaseoption is removed from the auction at 1030.

Another embodiment in of a process 1100 in which the BIN featuredisappears during the course of an auction is referred to as asemi-persistent BIN an is illustrated in FIG. 11. In a semi-persistentembodiment of the BIN feature, a fixed-price purchase option is madeavailable in a multi-unit auction at 1110, and a configurable thresholdbetween 0% and 100% inclusive is posited at 1120. Then, units of an itemwill be available for BIN at 1150 as long as either the current auctionprice (or the current auction price after bid) is below the threshold at1130, or, the unit has not yet been bid on at 1140. Otherwise, thefixed-price purchase option will not be available (1160, 1170). Thecurrent auction price after bid may be determined by one or more pricingrules. In an embodiment, the current price after bid is set to a lowvalue (such as 1) at the beginning of an auction. As soon as a bidderbecomes a partial loser (i.e. the bidder will not receive all the unitshe has bid on because other bidders have bid higher), the current priceafter bid is set to the partial loser's maximum bid price. Then, when abidder becomes a full loser, the current price after bid is set to thatbidder's maximum price plus one increment. This is referred to asVickrey pricing.

Specifically, in an embodiment, the starting price of the auction is setto be less than or equal to the BIN price. The threshold is set to acertain value between 0% and 100% inclusive. When the variable is equalto 100%, the BIN feature is available throughout the auction for thatitem irrespective of the number of bids on that item. When the variableis equal to 0%, every bid on that item counts and consequently reducesthe number of units of that item available for BIN on a one for onebasis (i.e., for every unit bid on, the number of units available forBIN is reduced by one). If the number of units that are available forBIN reduces to 0, then in an embodiment the BIN option disappears fromthe auction.

For example, if the threshold is set to 0% (i.e., every unit bid forwill affect the units available for BIN, since the current auction pricewill always be equal to or greater than 0% of the BIN price), thestarting price for an item is 1, the BIN price is 10, and the totalnumber of available units of these items is 10, then an example scenariois as follows:

Number of Units Number of Units Number of Units Bidder Available for BidAvailable for BIN Requested in Bid A 10 10 3 B 10 7 6 C 10 1 1 D 10 0 2

As the above table shows, as each bidder requests a number of units foran item in a bid, the number of units of that item available for BINdecreases by the number of units requested in the bid. For example,after bidder A requested three units in a bid, bidder B had available tohim for BIN only 7 units of the item. Then, after bidder C placed a bidfor one unit, the number of requested bids for that item equaled thetotal quantity of that item, and the quantity available for BIN wasreduced to zero. That is, after bidder C placed a bid, the total numberof items with a bid thereon (3, 6, 1) equaled the total quantity ofitems that were available (10). In an embodiment, the user interface ofthe auction displays to the user the number of units available for BIN.For example, when bidder B is in the process of bidding, the userinterface will indicate that there are 7 units available for BIN, andthat if the user would like to exercise the BIN option, the user shouldenter 7 units or fewer.

In another embodiment, the number of units of an item that are availablefor BIN always remains the same irrespective of the number of unitsrequested in a bid or bids. For example, in this embodiment, thethreshold is set to 100, the start price is 1, the BIN price is 10, andthe total quantity of available items is 10 (and assuming that eachbuyer's maximum bid price is 9). Then, for example, referring to thetable below,

Number of Units Number of Units Number of Units Bidder Available for BidAvailable for BIN Requested in Bid A 10 10 3 B 10 10 6 C 10 10 1 D 10 102it can be seen that irrespective of the number of units requested in abid by a user, the number of units available for BIN remains the samefor the duration of the auction. In this embodiment, the current priceafter bid, once again assuming that each bidder's maximum bid is 9(because of a rule that disallows a user from placing a bid equal to orabove the BIN price when the threshold is set to 100), will never beequal to or greater than 100% of the BIN price (10). Therefore, BIN willalways remain an option in this auction; it will not be removed. In thiscase, the number of items that have received bids is neglected, and themaximum bid prices for those bids are neglected.

In yet another embodiment, the number of units of an item available forBIN remains constant throughout the bidding process until the currentbid price (or current price after bid) is equal to a certain percentageof the BIN price. In an example of this embodiment, the threshold is setto 70, the start price is set to 1, the BIN price is set to 10, thebidding increment is set to 1, and the total quantity available for thisitem is 10. Then, a sequence of bidders and bids may be as follows:

Bidder Max Bid QABID QABIN QRBID CPAB A 6 10 10 3 1 B 8 10 10 5 1 C 8 1010 3 6 D 9 10 10 2 7 E 9 10 0 3 8 F 9 10 0 3 8 Wherein Max Bid is aBidder’s maximum bid QABID is the quantity available for bid QABIN isthe quantity available for BIN QRBID is the quantity requested in a bidCPAB is the current price after a bid

Referring to the above table, Bidder A first bids on three units, BidderB then bids on five units, and then Bidder C bids on 3 units. At thispoint, Bidder A has become a partial loser (because the total quantityof units requested in the bids of A, B, and C are now equal to 11, andthere are only ten units available for bid). The current price afterbid, per Vickrey pricing, is set to six—the maximum bid of Bidder A.Thereafter, Bidder D bids for two units, making Bidder A a full loser,and the current price after bid is set to Bidder A's maximum bid plusone. This raises the current price after bid to seven, which is equal to70%, or the threshold, of the BIN price. Since the current price afterbid now is equal to (or is not below) the threshold percentage of theBIN price, and all units have been bid on (total of units bid on for A,B, C, and D is 13), the BIN option is removed from this particularauction session.

In another example of a situation in which the quantity available forBIN is determined by the current price after bid as a percentage of BINprice, assume that the threshold is set to 80%, the start price is 80,the BIN price is 100, and the number of units available for purchase is10. The following example illustrates an embodiment of such an example.

Bidder Max Bid QABID QABIN QRBID CPAB A 82 10 10 3 80 B 85 10 7 6 80 C89 10 1 3 82 D 93 10 0 8 89 E 96 10 0 3 93

In this example, since the starting price (also the current price afterbid in this case) is greater than or equal to the threshold percentage(80%) of the BIN price, every bid and quantity counts. For example,after Bidder A places a bid on three units, the units available for BINdecreases from ten units to seven units. Then, after Bidder C places hisbid, the total quantity of units upon which there are outstanding bidsis twelve (Bidder A, 3; Bidder B, 6; Bidder C, 3), and the BIN option isremoved from the auction.

In an embodiment, an auction system can variably offer a temporary BINfeature, a permanent BIN feature, or a semi-permanent BIN feature. Insuch an embodiment, the type of the BIN feature may be changed by simplychanging a variable in the system that represents the threshold in thesystem from 0% to 100% inclusive.

Another embodiment of a multi-unit auction is a process 1200 asillustrated in FIG. 12 that allows bidders to re-bid during the auction.A multi-unit auction is made available to a user at 1210, and re-biddingis permitted at 1220. This re-bid feature is accompanied by rules thatprevent downward price movements and associated gaming of the auctionsystem. Specifically, in such an embodiment, a bidder is not allowed toreduce the price in the re-bid at 1230 (compared to the previous bid).Additionally, a bidder in a re-bid is not permitted to reduce thequantity of units of an item in the re-bid at 1240. In anotherembodiment, there is an exception to the quantity reduction prohibition.That exception is that if a bidder is “fully losing” the auction—i.e.the bidder is currently winning zero units in the auction of aparticular item, the bidder may reduce the quantity of an item bid forto a minimum of one unit.

Another embodiment or an exemplary method 1300 is illustrated in FIG. 13and further prevents price reductions and associated gaming ofmulti-unit auctions that permit a BIN feature. In such an embodiment, afixed-price purchase option is made available (1310), and if a user, whopresently has an outstanding bid for X units of an item, decides to buyY units now (BIN) (1320), that bidder's outstanding bid will be reducedfrom the X units to a maximum of (X-Y) units or zero units (1330) (i.e.max(X-Y, 0)) (i.e. in general, the person's bid will be reduced by thenumber of BIN units). Further, that bidder's bid price for the remainingunits in the bid will remain the same, and a bid that is reduced to zerounits is removed from the system (1340). Additionally, in thisembodiment, if a person decides to buy a quantity of units now, thenumber of units available in the auction will be reduced on a one forone basis (1350). However, another person (not the one who executed theBIN) who bid on X units before a BIN was executed, will still beconsidered by the system as bidding on X units after the BIN (even if Xis now greater than the number of units available in the auction afterthe BIN) (1360). Moreover, if that person re-bids, he must re-bid for atleast X units since he cannot reduce his quantity in a re-bid (unless hebecomes a full loser). By comparison, if a new bidder bids on unitsafter the BIN is executed, he will not be permitted to bid for moreunits than are available after the BIN.

Thus a method and system for providing an option to sell and buy at apre-auction seller determined price in an Internet-based multi-unitauction facility have been described. Although the present invention hasbeen described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it willbe evident that various modifications and changes may be made to theseembodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. (canceled)
 2. A computer-implemented method comprising: using acomputer processor for presenting to a buyer in a multi-unit auction afixed-price purchase process for purchase of one or more units of anoffering; using the processor for selecting a threshold, the thresholdother than the fixed-price; and using the processor for removing saidone or more units available for fixed-price purchase only if a currentprice after bid is more than said threshold and a number of unitscurrently bid on is more than the total number of said one or moreunits.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein saidthreshold is in the range of 0 to 100 inclusive.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein said threshold is equalto 100, thereby maintaining the total number of said one or more unitsavailable for fixed-price purchase throughout the entirety of saidauction.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein saidthreshold is equal to 0, thereby reducing the total number of said oneor more units available for fixed-price purchase by the number of unitsbid for; and comprising using the processor for removing saidfixed-price purchase process from said auction when said number of unitsavailable for fixed-price purchase is less than or equal to zero.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, comprising using the processorfor displaying on a user interface the number of units available forfixed-price purchase.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein said current price after bid is equal to or greater than saidthreshold as a percentage of said fixed-price; and comprising using theprocessor for reducing said quantity available for fixed-price purchaseon a one for one basis with said quantity of units bid on.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, comprising using the processorfor removing said fixed-price purchase process from said auction whenthe quantity of units bid on is greater than or equal to the number ofunits in said auction.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein said selection of said threshold permits the selection of a typeof fixed-price process from a group consisting of a temporaryfixed-price process, a semi-persistent fixed-price process, and apersistent fixed-price process.
 10. A computer-readable mediumcomprising instructions that when executed by a processor execute aprocess comprising: presenting to a buyer in a multi-unit auction afixed-price purchase process for purchase of one or more units of anoffering; selecting a threshold, the threshold other than thefixed-price; and removing said one or more units available forfixed-price purchase only if a current price after bid is more than saidthreshold and a number of units currently bid on is more than the totalnumber of said one or more units.
 11. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein said threshold is in the range of 0 to 100 inclusive.12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said threshold isequal to 100, thereby maintaining the total number of said one or moreunits available for fixed-price purchase throughout the entirety of saidauction.
 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein saidthreshold is equal to 0, thereby reducing the total number of said oneor more units available for fixed-price purchase by the number of unitsbid for; and comprising instructions for removing said fixed-pricepurchase process from said auction when said number of units availablefor fixed-price purchase is less than or equal to zero.
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 10, comprising instructions for usingthe processor for displaying on a user interface the number of unitsavailable for fixed-price purchase.
 15. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein said current price after bid is equal to or greaterthan said threshold as a percentage of said fixed-price; and comprisinginstructions for reducing said quantity available for fixed-pricepurchase on a one for one basis with said quantity of units bid on. 16.The computer-readable medium of claim 10, comprising instructions forremoving said fixed-price purchase process from said auction when thequantity of units bid on is greater than or equal to the number of unitsin said auction.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, whereinsaid selection of said threshold permits the selection of a type offixed-price process from a group consisting of a temporary fixed-priceprocess, a semi-persistent fixed-price process, and a persistentfixed-price process.
 18. A system comprising: a computer processoroperable for: presenting to a buyer in a multi-unit auction afixed-price purchase process for purchase of one or more units of anoffering; selecting a threshold, the threshold other than thefixed-price; and removing said one or more units available forfixed-price purchase only if a current price after bid is more than saidthreshold and a number of units currently bid on is more than the totalnumber of said one or more units.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinsaid threshold is equal to 100, thereby maintaining the total number ofsaid one or more units available for fixed-price purchase throughout theentirety of said auction; or said threshold is equal to 0, therebyreducing the total number of said one or more units available forfixed-price purchase by the number of units bid for, wherein thecomputer processor is operable for removing said fixed-price purchaseprocess from said auction when said number of units available forfixed-price purchase is less than or equal to zero.
 20. The system ofclaim 18, wherein said current price after bid is equal to or greaterthan said threshold as a percentage of said fixed-price; and wherein thecomputer processor is operable for reducing said quantity available forfixed-price purchase on a one for one basis with said quantity of unitsbid on.
 21. The system of claim 18, wherein said selection of saidthreshold permits the selection of a type of fixed-price process from agroup consisting of a temporary fixed-price process, a semi-persistentfixed-price process, and a persistent fixed-price process.